HEALTHMARK

HEALTHMARK investigated the complex associations between diet, microbiota, tryptophan metabolites of microbial metabolism, and metabolic health in a set-up of identification, replication, and validation of associations. The project comprises five partners, the University of Bonn, Germany; the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Germany; the National Research Institute for Agriculture, France; the University College Cork/Teagasc (UCC/Teagasc), Ireland, and the Edmund Mach Foundation, Italy.

The University of Bonn using the DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed Study identified long-term body mass index trajectories and observed their association with cardiometabolic riskmarkers such as interleukin-18. Additionally, long-term overweight was associated with decreased levels of indole-3-acetic acid and several amino acids, including indole-3-carboxaldehyde were associated with elevated C-reactive protein. Finally, carbohydrate intake was associated with the relative abundance of some gut bacteria, Phascolarctobacterium, Dialister, and Desulfovibrio.